The jury unanimously votes in favor of the plaintiff
Last week, we reported on how Valve faced a lawsuit over the design of its Steam Controller hardware, with manufacturer Ironburg Inventions (acting on behalf of subsidiary SCUF Gaming) claiming the discontinued gamepad infringed its patents. Yesterday a jury voted unanimously for Ironburg.
The patent in question involved the implementation of rear-end triggers – which are located on the bottom of the Steam Controller and operated by the player’s middle fingers. This simple invention was patented in 2011 by Simon Burgess and Ironburg CEO Duncan Ironmonger. While the design has been officially sub-licensed to brands such as Xbox, Ironburg stated that Valve did not have such a license and therefore infringed its patent with the Steam Controller design.
After the jury ruled in Ironburg’s favor on all seven patent infringement claims, the court ordered Valve to pay $ 4 million in damages. Ironburg had initially pushed for $ 11 million, cut to $ 6 million (comparable to the Xbox sub-license contract). Importantly, however, the jury found Valve’s patent infringement “intentional,” and as such the District Judge could potentially increase the damages.
Interestingly aside, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the lawsuit was conducted remotely through the online calling tool Zoom, making it the first fully socially disciplined jury trial in the United States.
$ 4 million verdict in first virtual patent jury trial [Law.com / Gamesindustry.biz]
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